Scheme in West Suffolk gives new training opportunities for staff

West Suffolk is currently running an innovative scheme to allow staff a chance to train and develop their skills.

Staff names are put into a hat and drawn at random to then have a training or development day of their choosing – and in trade-off the management team cover their shift.

The scheme, which runs every six to eight weeks, was set up by Senior Locality Manager for West Suffolk, Glenn Young.

Speaking about why he set this up, Glenn said: “I wanted to give something back to staff by allowing them to have a day where they can decide what they do as a clinical development day. It breaks up their routine and it’s something different.

“Staff need to feel valued and this is a small thing that we can achieve and they can use these days to learn more about a topic that they have an interest in.”

Andrew Bates, Duty Locality Officer for west Suffolk, has also been involved “It enables the wider healthcare team to meet and spend time with our staff, and understand a bit more about their day to day role and the breadth of their knowledge.”

Chris Dixon, a student paramedic for EEAST who has been on a development day, said: “I was really pleased to be selected to be released from duty to fulfil my educational day. My SLM covered my shift.

“I decided to go to the local hospice and spent the day with staff and patients gaining a better understanding of the service they provide. I really appreciated the opportunity the local management team gave me.”

So far colleagues who have been involved in the scheme have chosen training days on:

• diabetes
• coronary care unit
• post-mortem
• mental health
• end-of-life care.

Well done west Suffolk!

Published 13th May, 2016